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Trivia: Musical Terms

Subject : trivia
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. A symbol in sheet music that returns a note to its original pitch after it has been augmented or diminished.






2. An important characteristic of the Romantic period. It is a style where the strict tempo is temporarily abandoned for a more emotional tone.






3. A period in history during the 18th and early 19th centuries where the focus shifted from the neoclassical style to an emotional - expressive - and imaginative style.






4. Arrangement of music for a combined number of instruments.






5. A curve over notes to indicate that a phrase is to be played legato.






6. The retuning of a stringed instrument in order to play notes below the ordinary range of the instrument or to produce an usual tone color.






7. A scale consisting of only whole-tone notes. Such a scale consists of only 6 notes.






8. A composition written for three to six voices. Beginning with the exposition - each voice enters at different times - creating counterpoint with one another.






9. A solo concert with or without accompaniment.






10. Three note chords consisting of a root - third - and fifth.






11. A composition written for a solo instrument. The soloist plays the melody while the orchestra plays the accompaniment.






12. Where the musical themes and melodies are developed - written in sonata form.






13. Ability to determine the pitch of a note as it relates to the notes that precede and follow it.






14. A drama where the words are sung instead of spoken.






15. Vocal composition written for three or more solo parts - usually without instrumental accompaniment.






16. A contrapuntal song written for at least three voices - usually without accompaniment.






17. Music composed such that each note is used the same number of times.






18. An extended solo - often accompanying the vocal part of an aria.






19. A tempo having slow movement; restful at ease.






20. A form of Italian opera beginning at the end of the 19th century. The setting is contemporary to the composer's own time - and the characters are modeled after every day life.






21. A sequence of songs - perhaps on a single theme - or with texts by one poet - or having continuos narrative.






22. A musical scale having five notes.For example: the five black keys of a keyboard make up a pentatonic scale.






23. A 17th century dance written in Quadruple time - always beginning on the third beat of the measure.






24. Two notes that differ in name only. The notes occupy the same position.For example: C sharp and D flat.






25. The seventh note of the scale where there is a strong desire to resolve on the tonic.






26. The element of music pertaining to time - played as a grouping of notes into accented and unaccented beats.






27. Time signature with three beats to the measure.






28. A direction to play expressively.






29. The period of music history which dates from the mid 1800's and lasted about sixty years. There was a strong regard for order and balance.






30. A melodic or - sometimes a harmonic idea presented in a musical form.






31. An instrumental lament with praise for the dead.






32. The technique of altering the tone color of a single note or musical line by changing from one instrument to another in the middle of a note or line.






33. A sequence of chords that brings an end to a phrase - either in the middle or the end of a composition.






34. One of two or more parts in polyphonic music. Voice refers to instrumental parts as well as the singing voice.






35. Written for 2 to 10 solo parts featuring one instrument to a part. Each part bears the same importance.






36. The voice between soprano and alto. Also - in sheet music - a direction for the tempo to be played at medium speed.






37. A song of praise and glorification. Most often to honor God.






38. Pleasing combination of two or three tones played together in the background while a melody is being played. Harmony also refers to the study of chord progressions.






39. One of the two modes of the tonal system. The minor mode can be identified by the dark - melancholic mood.






40. The interval between two notes. Two whole tones and one semitone make up the distance between the two notes.






41. A short piece originally preceded by a more substantial work - also an orchestral introduction to opera - however not lengthy enough to be considered an overture.






42. Initially an improvised cadence by a soloist; later becoming an elaborate and written out passage in an aria or concerto - featuring the skills of an instrumentalist or vocalist.






43. Music written for chorus and orchestra. Most often religious in nature.






44. A musical theme given to a particular idea or main character of an opera.






45. Introduction to an opera or other large musical work.






46. The tonal characteristics determined by the relationship of the notes to the tone.






47. A period in history dating from the 14th to 16th centuries. This period signified the rebirth of music - art - and literature.






48. A line in a contrapuntal work performed by an individual voice or instrument.






49. Music composed such that each note is used the same number of times.






50. A piece of music written for two vocalists or instrumentalists.